A Review of the 2024 Season
During the Winter we received the news that neither of the promoted Clubs were able to take their place in the Premier Division and despite having finished in the relegation positions, Chingford accepted the League’s offer of a reprieve to remain in the top flight.
Another very wet Spring saw most of the pre-League fixtures cancelled but thanks to previous drainage work done at the bottom of the ground we got under way on 14 April with a comfortable win over North London in the National Cup. That was the only win the 1st xi had until late July as we found ourselves rooted to the bottom of the Premier Division following a series of poor results. This run saw the first match in Chingford history to be abandoned for bad light in the 1s home game v Hornchurch, when we were well placed in a run chase. Meanwhile in the National we eliminated Hertford on a coin toss after the game was twice washed out before we succumbed to Crouch End, and we went out of the League Cup to Division 2 opposition.
However the win on 27 July v Loughton sparked quite a revival and we went into the penultimate game v Hutton with the opportunity to secure safety. However we lost by 4 wickets but with other results going our way we were offered a second lifeline with an away game at fellow strugglers Loughton in the final game. Chingford had secured the win by mid afternoon but this meant Hadleigh and Thundersley knew exactly how many bonus points they needed to survive in their game v Buckhurst Hill and in the end we finished level on points with them. With the number of wins by both Clubs being the same we were relegated on the points acquired in the two games v Hadleigh, but the reality was we had left ourselves too much to do following such a poor start to the season. Peter McDermott was the top run scorer with 520 runs including a century v Buckhurst Hill closely followed by skipper Joe Byrnes(442) and Andy MacGregor (406). With the ball overseas paceman Matt Liberman bore the brunt of the work, returning 37 wickets at 21 apiece while support came from Safi Oriakhil with 25 wickets and George Duke with 21.
The second eleven won their first League game but had no further victories until July. However with 6 victories secured in July, Aug, and Sep we comfortably survived in the Premier Division in 7th place. Opening bowler and mainstay Richard Offord led the attack again with 23 wickets. Sadly Richard is now moving to Singapore and a well attended leaving do arranged by his appreciative team-mates gave him a much deserved send off. With the bat Captain Jibran Mirza led the way with 347 runs, closely flowed by Nadir Noor, 319 runs.
The third xi strolled somewhat easily through Division 1 and finally returned to the top flight -something which has eluded us since 1994. 13 League games were won with just the single defeat. Ayaz Shah was the mainstay of the batting hitting 900 runs in 10 innings, that contained 4 centuries and 4 fifties. Captain Ali Butt provided excellent support with an aggregate of 610. With the ball Faizan Awan led the way with an exceptional haul of 41 wickets at just 10 apiece, well backed up by off spinners Stephen Thorne with 22 wickets and Scott Prestedge with 20
There were eight wins for the Fourth Eleven who finished comfortably in 3rd place in a very tight 4th xi Premier West Division. Bernard Storm again dominated with the bat with 303 runs in just 6 appearances, ably backed up by Nick van Arkle with 269. Wickets were shared around but leading wicket taker was Colt Jacob Cox with 16.
Ian Butcher again expertly ran the 5th xi who played as a wandering side for 11 weekends visiting some very nice venues. 5 games were won and one tied. Jan Smith top scored with 228 runs and another of our promising Colts, Mano Biswas took the bowling honours with 14 wickets at just 8 apiece.
The Sunday As again turned in a set of dominant results, having 14wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats and for the second year running won their Chess Valley Division, this time Division 2 and we return to the top flight for 2025. We were never short of runs with six players hitting centuries and Ali Butt(682), Harry Houldsworth(563) and Tom Balkwill(510) all made big contributions. Bowling honours saw young leg spinner Tomas Biswas excel with 36 wickets at 10 apiece, ably backed up by Scott Prestedge who contributed a further 33 at 17.
After a gap of 10 years, adult two team Sunday cricket returned to Chingford, with Raja Tariq and Nic Knight getting additional sides out and 7 games out of 9 were won. Ayaz Shah was again in scintillating form with 497 runs at 99, including a further 3 centuries, whilst with the ball Raja Tariq took 22 wickets at 8
Further evidence of the ever increasing strength of the Colts section was provided by the U14s getting through to finals day of the Sir Alistair Cook Cup but having been inserted, got caught out on a poor Maldon pitch and dismissed for just 70 by a good Coggeshall bowling attack in the semi final. Georgie Heath won the Metropolitan Essex District Cricket Board’s Outstanding Achiever Award for her performances in U15 girls and U13 mixed cricket.
Off the field the Cricket School was underwent a much needed complete refurbishment with funding obtained via the generosity of The Tiger Tree Foundation and donations from members via a Crowdfunder. Track and Build completing the work in less than a month in the indoor off-season under the expert guidance of Nick van Arkle
Meanwhile in the clubhouse the blue “listed” carpet was finally removed from the bar area and the whole clubroom area is now resplendent in a new wooden floor and new windows and doors have also been fitted to enhance the overall appearance..